Accordingly, female self-pleasure was a major subject of discussion during the period, but not on the same scale as male masturbation. Autoeroticism for women was considered to be less common and less damaging to the body than male ‘abuse’, for, while a girl might be degrading herself morally and, as several male commentators pointed out, spoiling her future enjoyment in ‘real’ sexual intercourse, she was not wasting her vital essence in the same way as was a man.
